Intermodal containers are commonly used when shipping goods domestically and/or internationally. Such containers can be loaded onto cargo ships for transport across oceans or other bodies of water. For land transport, these containers can be placed onto a trailer and then hauled overland by truck. Such containers can also be loaded onto railroad flatcars for transport.
Shipping containers can be loaded with boxes, crates, drums, reinforced bags, plastic wrapped bundles, cased goods, metal coils, specialty heavy paper rolls, plastic or metal containers mounted on pallets, and/or numerous other forms of cargo. Maritime and surface transportation regulations require that such loads be restrained from lateral shifting. In particular, a shipping container may experience significant movement as the container is carried by an ocean vessel or by another conveyance. If cargo within the intermodal container is not restrained, it may shift and collide with a container wall or container doors. Because the mass of cargo in a container can be significant, such shifting and/or collisions can have catastrophic consequences for transport workers and for the public at large. For example, shifting cargo can be damaged when colliding with a container wall and/or be crushed by other shifting cargo. Damaged cargo can lead to release of product, which product may be toxic or otherwise be hazardous. As another example, shifting cargo might alter the center of gravity of the shipping container itself and thereby cause significant problems for the ship, truck or other vehicle carrying the container.
FIG. 1 illustrates a known technique for restraining cargo within a shipping container 1. A portion of a top 3 and right side wall 2R have been cut away from container 1 to reveal cargo loaded therein. In the example of FIG. 1, the cargo includes a load of crates 4 and drums 5. FIG. 1 further shows a portion of an interior of a left side wall 2L. Crates 4 and drums 5 are secured against movement toward the rear 11 of container 1 by a restraint system that includes multiple load restraint strips 6. Each load restraint strip 6 is flexible and has an adhesive-coated region 7. A region 7a of a first strip 6a is pressed against an interior surface of side wall 2R. The other end 8a of load restraint strip 6a is then wrapped around the rear of a portion of crates 4. Strip region 7a and other load restraint strip regions in FIG. 1 are stippled to indicate the presence of adhesive.
A second load restraint strip 6b is similar to load restraint strip 6a and has an adhesive-coated region (not shown) similar to region 7a of load restraint strip 6a. The adhesive-coated region of load restraint strip 6b is secured to the interior surface of side wall 2L in a position that is at generally the same height as region 7a. The end 8b of load restraint strip 6b is then wrapped around the rear of the portion of crates 4 similar to end 8a. Ends 8a and 8b are then tightened, e.g., using a tool and method such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,827. An adhesive-backed patch 9 is then applied over the tightened ends 8a and 8b to secure those ends together. In a similar manner, load restraint strips 6c and 6d and other pairs of load restraint strips 6 are used to secure crates 4 and drums 5 from lateral movement.
Load restraint strips may be supplied in roll form. FIG. 2A shows a roll 15 that includes multiple load restraint strips 6 such as those indicated in FIG. 1. One of those load restraint strips has been unrolled and is identified as 6(1). The next load restraint strip on roll 15 is indicated as 6(2). Each of load restraint strips 6 is approximately 12 feet in length. In the configuration of FIG. 2A, the attachment region 7 of each load restraint strip 6 is located on the side of the load restraint strip facing the interior of roll 15 and may be covered with a removable liner made from silicone-backed release paper or similar material. Locations of regions 7(1) and 7(2) on the other sides of load restraint strips 6(1) and 6(2), respectively, are indicated with broken lines.
Load restraint strips 6 in roll 15 are continuous. In particular, and except with regard to regions 7 and liners covering regions 7, the backing material, reinforcing material and other components that form load restraint strips 6 extend continuously and unbroken across the boundaries between load restraint strips. As a result, and as indicated in FIG. 2B, each load restraint strip 6 must be cut from roll 15 using scissors or some other type of cutting tool.
Cutting each load restraint strip 6 from roll 15 presents several issues. For example, each cutting operation requires that a worker identify the boundary between two load restraint strips 6 and then sever one of those load restraint strips from the roll by cutting along that boundary. Although the incremental time to perform this operation for one load restraint strip may seem relatively short, these increments accumulate. Intermodal containers are often loaded and prepared for transport on a large scale, and even small delays can significantly affect throughput of cargo through a loading facility.
Many types of rolled products include perforations separating adjacent products on the roll. These perforations may then allow a single product to be torn away without use of a separate cutting tool. For many types of load restraint strips, however, this is a less-than-ideal solution. In order to provide adequate cargo-holding strength, load restraint strips typically incorporate some type of reinforcing material. For many types of reinforcing materials, perforating the boundary between load restraint strips is not practical.